Jace took a quick two steps back. “Yes, ma’am, you do smell bacon and I’m making omelets to go with it.” He smiled. “What do you take on yours?”
“Cheese, tomatoes, and mushrooms.” Tilly hugged Carlene and then sat down in a chair. “Can I have a glass of milk?”
“Want a little kick in it?” Jace’s eyes glittered.
“Double shot. It’s Monday.” Tilly folded her arms on the table and laid her head on them. “Jace, why don’t you homeschool me? I could sleep until noon every day.”
“A rancher is up with the chickens and goes to bed after the cows,” Jace said. “If you stay home every day, you’ll have to be up and ready to work at dawn and not stop until dark.”
“Well, then I’ll just go on to school with Mama,” she sighed.
“Might be the best idea.” Jace gave Carlene a sly wink.
“Oh!” Tilly’s head popped up. “I didn’t call Aunt Bee and tell her about Jace stayin’ on the horse until the horn sounded or about the house burnin’ or nothin’. I need to do that on the way to school.”
“I called her Saturday morning and caught her up on everything,” Carlene said. “Right now you need to eat and get ready to go. We’ve got less than an hour.”
The sun was out and the warmth was putting a dent in the snow, but the roads were still slick, so it took Carlene five extra minutes to get to school. The yard duty teacher told them that all the kids were staying in the cafeteria until the first bell rang, so Tilly headed off in that direction.
It seemed like ten years ago instead of only two days since Carlene walked out of her classroom on Friday. Half expecting to see a big change of some kind, Carlene held her breath as she unlocked her door and flipped on the lights. But there it was, just as she’d left it, and that brought a measure of comfort. She needed for one facet of her life to be solid. She removed her coat and hung it on the back of her chair and was unloading her bag when her cell phone rang. It was on the fifth ring when she found it at the bottom of her big purse and answered it without even looking at the caller ID because she recognized Belinda’s ring tone.
“Hello,” she said.
“Hey, did you find a house over the weekend?” Belinda asked.
Her sister wasn’t going to like what she had to say, so Carlene sighed and then talked fast, telling her everything, from the way Jace held her hand at the memorial, to the promise and the breakfast he’d made, and to their visit to the skunk house.
“I’m glad that Tilly is taking it in stride, but she’s a tough kid and I’d expect that from her. I’m not happy about you living in that house. You need to get past your infatuation with Jace Dawson.” Belinda had her no-nonsense voice out that morning. “But none of it surprises me, except that Tilly didn’t make you sign her over to me when she found out about Jace.”
“Fat chance. Go have your own babies,” Carlene said.
“I’m lookin’ forty right in the eye and I never did want kids, but I’d sure take Tilly if you’ll let me adopt her. Then you and the hot cowboy can romp around in the hay all you want. But you might want to learn a lesson and use double protection,” Belinda teased.
“Keep dreamin’,” Carlene said. “Now tell me about this guy you’re dating.”
“Nothing to tell. He’s military, of course, and he’s damn fine-lookin’ and real good in bed. That’s about it. Oh, and he does like Jack Daniel’s better than Jim Beam, so that’s a plus.”
“Well, that’s a definite plus but if he drinks light beer, throw him to the curb.” Carlene told her about Tilly asking Jace if he needed a little kick for his glass of milk.
“Ah, proof positive that she could easily be mine,” Belinda said. “Got to go for now. I’ll talk to you and Tilly later and then I’ll tell you just exactly what she thinks of having a daddy. And, Carlene, be careful. Not only with protection but also with your heart. Bye now.”
The phone went dark before Carlene could even tell her good-bye. What she hadn’t told her sister played back through her head—the way Jace’s hands felt on her bare skin, the dreamy look in his eyes right before their lips touched, the chemistry between them that separated them from the rest of the world for a little while that evening.
“The past is gone. I burned that bridge,” she whispered.
But the future lies ahead of you and that bridge is real sturdy. The voice in her head definitely belonged to Aunt Rosalie.
Chapter Twelve
A thunderstorm howled outside as Jace finished a long, hot shower and slipped into a pair of pajama pants and a T-shirt. He was on his way downstairs when he heard Tilly wailing. Not crying, but a pitiful sound as if she’d lost her best friend. He took the steps two at a time and hurried into the kitchen, where she was on the floor, hanging on to Carlene’s knees and sobbing uncontrollably.
He dropped down next to her and wrapped her up in his arms. “What’s happened? Are you hurt?”
“Jas…mine,” she howled.
“What about Jasmine? Is she hurt?” Carlene asked.
Jace’s eyes went to Carlene with silent questions.
She shrugged. “She rushed in from the utility room like this. I don’t know.”
“I just wanted to see if the snow was mel…ting…,” she said between sobs. “So I looked out the back door.”
“What about Jasmine, sweetheart?”
“She…ran…outside.”
Jace jumped to his feet and ran to the back door, where he crammed his bare feet into a pair of work boots and grabbed the first coat he could put his hands on. “I’ll find her, Tilly.”
A hard north wind slammed the rain against his face and lightning split the sky in long jagged pieces, followed by low-rolling thunder—but none of that mattered. His daughter was upset and he had to fix it.
Continually wiping water out of his eyes and pushing back his dripping wet hair, he checked under the bushes around the house first but came up empty-handed. Surely that kitten wouldn’t have gone any farther than the yard with all the noise. He was on his way to broaden his search to the truck and van parked out in the yard when he heard a meow off to his right. A long lightning streak gave enough light to show Jasmine huddled against the gatepost.
“Kitty, kitty,” he called softly.
Heading that way slowly so he didn’t spook her, he took a step at a time and talked to her in a soft voice that he hoped was soothing in the downpour. He reached the gate and bent to pick her up, still sweet-talking her. But a flash of lightning, followed immediately by a clap of thunder that could be heard all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, startled him so badly that he covered his head with his hands. When he looked down, the kitten was nothing more than a black-and-white streak headed out across the pasture toward the barn.
He put one hand on the fence post and jumped the fence in one easy motion, then headed off the way he saw the kitten go. Another streak of lightning gave him a glimpse of Jasmine making a beeline to the barn. Trouble was, that was where Red would be curled up in a stall on his dog bed. Not that he’d hurt a kitten, but she’d be terrified of a big red dog if he came toward her and could possibly run outside. Then he’d never find her and Tilly’s heart would be broken.
Jace took another running step and his foot sank into a puddle of water and snow mixture that overflowed over the top of his boot. “Damn, that’s cold,” he muttered as he kept going.
Just before he got to the barn, he saw Jasmine dart inside. In spite of the shivers from the cold water sloshing in his boot, he doubled his pace and hurried inside the barn, where he shut the door firmly. Now she was trapped and he’d be able to find her.
Red came out of his stall, wagging his tail and wanting Jace to pet him. Completely winded and shaking from the cold, Jace sat down on a bale of hay and scratched Red’s ears.
“Did you see a little black-and-white kitten that looks like a half-drowned rat?” he asked.
Red yipped and laid his head in Jace’s lap, but when he figured out how wet it was, he quic
kly backed up several feet.
“I don’t blame you a bit, but it’s time to start the search. You might as well go on back to bed because seeing you will scare her.” He stood up and pulled the coat around his chest and the front overlapped by three inches. That’s when he realized he’d grabbed his dad’s coat. It was hanging on the rack the day his dad was killed in a tractor accident and no one could bring themselves to move it.
“I’d appreciate any help you could give me, Dad. It’ll take some doing for me to ever fill this coat, but I’m willing to try,” he said.
That’s when he heard the mewling somewhere behind him. Red’s ears perked up and he went into hunting mode, his nose to the barn floor. He chased a mouse out of a corner, then turned and headed toward the tack room with Jace right behind him. He entered the room and stopped immediately, going into a point toward the worktable.
One more tiny little mewling sound took Jace right to the kitten. She was cowering under the table. Dripping wet, big eyed, she came right to him when he called her that time. He picked her up and dried her off as best he could with a paper towel before he tucked her inside the coat, next to his chest.
“Thanks, Red. You done good, old boy. You can go back to bed now,” he said, and then looked up toward the ceiling. “And thanks, Dad.”
The rain was still coming down in sheets, but the thunder had rolled off toward the northeast. He cracked the barn door with one hand and held on to the place where Jasmine was cuddled up next to him with the other one.
Afraid that if he went too fast he’d spook the kitten, he took off for the house in a fast walk. Halfway there, he stepped in the same puddle with the other foot and now both boots were sloshy with cold water, but he didn’t let it slow him down. He could see Tilly’s face in the kitchen window and he had to get Jasmine to her.
He was to the gate when lightning lit up the sky and a mesquite tree crackled somewhere not far behind him. Immediately a loud burst of thunder followed it and Jasmine clawed her way from his chest, up across his neck, and climbed down his back like he was an oak tree. Then she darted under the fence and took off for the porch, made a left-hand turn, and scaled the hedge. He found her sitting in the middle of the snow-covered leaves, hissing at him and baring her little claws. He reached through the dormant limbs to snatch her up by the back of the neck. She went limp and he eased her out to keep from scratching her.
Tilly slung open the door when he took the first step onto the porch. With her arms out and tearstains on her cheeks, she smiled up at him. And despite the cold outside, despite his slushy boots—that smile warmed him to the center of his heart.
“Oh, Jace, you saved her! You are a hero.” Tilly hugged him tightly.
He put Jasmine in her arms. “She’s pretty wet.”
“Come here, baby girl. You must never do that again. You scared me so bad.” She grabbed a towel from the laundry basket, wrapped the kitten in it, and crooned sweet words to her the whole way to the living room.
He hung his dad’s coat back on the hook and turned to find Carlene behind him. Her eyes were soft and she had a small smile on her face. “That was a good thing you did.”
“Well, I wasn’t gonna leave a kitten in the cold. Besides, I couldn’t bear seein’ Tilly cry like that.”
“Well, cowboy, you’d better get out of those wet clothes and into the shower and get warmed up. I’ll clean up this mess. The things we do for our child.”
He dripped water all the way up the stairs to the bathroom. The warm water felt like prickles on his chilled skin at first but after a few minutes, it started to heat up his body and he stopped shaking like a leaf in a windstorm. So now Tilly was our child—not Carlene’s daughter or his but theirs together. Seeing Tilly’s smile and hearing Carlene say those two words was worth the whole cat-rescue mission.
When he made it back down the stairs, this time in a gray sweat suit, Carlene met him halfway across the floor and handed him a glass with a double shot of Jack Daniel’s in it.
“You need to warm up your insides, too, after a chill like that,” she said. “And thank you one more time.”
“It was worth it. Our child”—he liked the sound of that—“is happy now.”
“Yes, she is,” Carlene said.
They’d barely made it to the sofa when a loud rap on the door was followed by Hope’s voice out in the foyer. “Y’all at home?”
“In the livin’ room. Come on in,” Jace yelled.
The sound of two people stomping snow from their boots on the rug inside the door filtered to the living room. Then there was a low rumble of whispers before they actually appeared in the doorway.
“Hello, Henry and Granny. What are you doing out in a storm like this?” he asked.
“Can I get you something to drink?” Carlene asked.
“I’d like a shot of Wild Turkey and I bet Henry would like a beer,” Hope answered for both of them.
“You know me too well.” Henry’s old eyes glowed when they looked at her.
“I’ll get those for you. Y’all have a seat.” Carlene rose from the sofa. “You want another one, Jace?”
“Yes, please.”
He sank down into a recliner, expecting Henry to sit on the other one, but he and Hope both chose the sofa. There was two feet of space between them, but Jace could almost see the sparks when they looked at each other. He’d known that Hope and Henry had an infatuation when they were younger and he’d said he was all right with it but there was still a little jealousy that sparked when he thought of his grandpa.
Tilly came into the room from the kitchen holding Jasmine in one of her doll’s blankets. “Hello, Henry. Hi, Granny. Jace, you are a hero. She’s going to live.”
“What happened?” Hope asked.
“She ran outside in the rain.” Tilly went on to tell the whole story, making it far more dramatic than it was. “I thought she’d drown for sure, but Jace saved her.”
Henry’s eyes glittered, but he didn’t laugh at Tilly. “It must have been terrifying.”
“It was,” Tilly said with a sigh. “I watched out the window and I thought Jace would never come home with her. She’s so little and it was a big storm. But she says she’s learned her lesson and she’ll stay in the house from now on.”
“Well, I hope she doesn’t forget,” Henry said.
Carlene returned, carrying a tray with a glass, a bottle of Wild Turkey, and a tray of cookies. She set it on the coffee table and took a seat on the recliner beside Jace.
Hope poured a little more than a double shot into the glass and took a sip. “We’d like to have a family dinner Wednesday night to celebrate Henry’s last evening with us.”
“Sounds like fun. If it’s all right with Carlene, can we host it here at Prairie Rose? We haven’t had a family dinner here since Mama moved to her new place.”
“Well, I was going to ask Brody and Lila, but if you’d like to do it here, Valerie and I’ll do the cookin’ since you’ll be in school all day, Carlene.” Hope took another sip of her whiskey.
“Whatever y’all want is fine with me. I’m sure Tilly will love having her cousins here to play.”
“Mama, may I have a glass of milk, please? With a kick? And a small saucer without a kick for Jasmine. She’s havin’ trouble gettin’ over this,” Tilly said.
“Of course, sweetheart,” Carlene answered.
“Kick?” Hope whispered to Jace.
“Chocolate,” he said out the side of his mouth.
Carlene went back to the kitchen and Tilly plopped down on the arm of the chair her mother had vacated. “You never told me that you knew Granny and Jace when we were in Florida, Henry.”
“I knew your granny when she was your age. We were friends.”
“I have a new friend. Her name is Maribel,” Tilly said. “Oh, I should call her and tell her all about how Jace saved Jasmine.”
Henry nodded slowly and seriously. “It’s a good thing to have friends in times of need.”
&
nbsp; Carlene returned with a tray bearing a glass of chocolate milk.
“Can I take it upstairs, Mama, and use your phone to call Maribel?”
“If you are very careful and don’t spill it but Jasmine has to drink her milk in the utility room. I put a full saucer out there for her,” Carlene said.
“But, Mama, she’s still upset from bein’ out in the rain,” Tilly declared.
“That saucer of milk stays in the utility room, young lady,” Carlene told her.
Tilly took the chocolate milk and picked up her mother’s phone from the end table. “Yes, ma’am.”
Henry waited until she was out of the room to chuckle. “You two have got your work cut out for you.”
“Don’t I know it.” Carlene took another gulp of beer.
“And I’m learnin’ it real fast,” Jace agreed.
Chapter Thirteen
On Tuesday morning, Tilly was fidgety on the way to school. She sighed and turned the radio station five times before Carlene pulled the van into her space in the school parking lot.
“Mama, can we talk?” she said as Carlene reached to open the door.
“We’ve got five minutes,” Carlene said.
“If you was to marry Jace…well, I liked it bein’ just me and you,” she stammered. “But if you was to fall in love with him, would that mean you wouldn’t love me as much?”
“Do you love Jasmine?” Carlene asked.
Tilly frowned. “Of course I do.”
“Do you love Aunt Bee?”
”Why are you askin’ me that?”
“Does that make you love me any less?”
“Of course not,” she blurted out.
“I love you more every single day of your life, Matilda Rose Varner. It’s impossible that I could ever not love you as much as I do right now or more, but don’t worry about me getting married anytime soon.”
“Not even to Jace?”
“Not even to Jace.”
“Okay, Mama. That makes me feel better, but if you change your mind about Jace and you’ll still love me, I might be all right with it.” Tilly grabbed her backpack. “There’s Maribel. I’ve got to get me some cowboy boots.”
Luckiest Cowboy of All--Two full books for the price of one Page 15